Tomorrow, September 17, is Constitution Day. Aside from being a general observance where we honor new American citizens and the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, federal law mandates that “each educational institution that receives Federal funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational program on the United States Constitution.” Constitution Day is a fitting time then to reflect on what schools are teaching about America’s founding principles.

And unfortunately, some people are pushing schools to teach Howard Zinn. In declaring the Marxist Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States one of its “All-TIME 100 best non-fiction books,” Time magazine recently lamented that Zinn’s lengthy diatribe is “a narrative you almost certainly didn’t read in school.” This is probably best, insofar as schools are still expected to teach history in their history classes. However, and if acolytes of the late Zinn have their way, many more students will come to understand the American Founding through his eyes.